Noodle Salad

A cool, refreshing pasta salad made with tender shell noodles, crisp cucumbers, juicy tomatoes, and a simple mayo‑Italian dressing.

A Cool, Creamy Pasta Salad Made with Simple Ingredients

This easy shell pasta salad comes together with just a few fresh vegetables and a quick mayo‑Italian dressing. It’s crisp, creamy, refreshing, and perfect for warm‑weather meals or make‑ahead lunches.

Sometimes you just want a cool, refreshing pasta salad, something that's easy, familiar, and made with just a handful of ingredients you already have on hand. This simple noodle salad is exactly that kind of recipe.

It’s built on small shell pasta, crisp cucumber, and juicy tomato, all tossed in a no‑fuss dressing of mayonnaise and Italian dressing. Nothing fancy, nothing complicated, just a bright, creamy, everyday pasta salad that tastes like summer.

Longevity Vegetable Bean Soup

A hearty vegetable and bean soup with big flavor and simple ingredients. Nourishing, flexible and perfect for easy weeknight cooking.

Longevity Vegetable Bean Soup

Every now and then, I stumble on a recipe that has good bones but needs a little coaxing to come alive.

That’s exactly how this soup started - as a clipped recipe for Dr. Greger’s Live Longer Vegetable Bean Soup - a weight loss soup - that promised nourishment but was a little lacking in flavor to my liking.

So I did what any Gulf Coast cook would do: I layered in flavor until it felt like home!

Creamy Homestyle Chicken Noodle Stew made with tender chicken, hearty veggies, and wide egg noodles. Cozy, creamy, and perfect for weeknights or freezer clean‑outs.

Creamy Homestyle Chicken Noodle Stew

So, I have several freezers because I buy meat in bulk, and one suddenly went out on me recently. If you've ever had a freezer go out, you know what a mad scramble it is to either get another freezer or to rearrange any remaining freezer space to transfer stuff into, so you don't lose valuable meat.

Just one of those things that life throws at us!

I ended up with excess frozen meats that I couldn't fit and just had to refrigerate to thaw and come up with some recipes to use those things up! One of those was a large package of cooked, shredded chicken from a whole bird I’d simmered last month.

I used half of it to make this stew and the rest I used to make my Shortcut Chicken and Dumplings.

This easy sheet‑pan dinner layers fresh green beans, tossed with olive oil and bold Italian seasonings, with cooked and crumbled Italian sausage and a silky “cheater Alfredo,” baked under a blanket of melted cheese. It’s weeknight‑friendly, family‑approved, and perfect as a hearty side or a full meal.

Sheet Pan Green Beans with Italian Sausage

This was another one of those recipes that passed through my timeline on social media video shorts.

For someone who isn't particularly active on social, that seems to happen a lot because those little Facebook reels that are featured in our timelines seem to draw me in. I don't do videos and doubtful I will although my eldest grandson, soon off to college already (how does that happen so fast??) tells me I need to.

I told him that since most of the videos I see appear to require me to be cute, in full hair and makeup, bejeweled and with highly decorated and maintained fingernails, well... don't hold your breath! 😂

Nonetheless, I sure do seem to get alot of inspiration from those short videos here lately!

Beef chuck roast, generously seasoned with all-purpose seasoning, seared to a rich golden brown, then simmered with sweet onions and aromatic dried herbs in a hearty beef stock - all brought together effortlessly in the Instant Pot for a tender, comforting, flavor-packed finish.

Instant Pot Pot Roast

My favorite way to cook a pot roast is always going to be low and slow whether on the stovetop or in the oven. You just can't beat the result and the aroma while it's cooking is enticing.

When I'm in the mood for a roast but a little more short on time, I've become a big fan of using the Instant Pot for a pot roast too, but I've certainly learned one thing.

Even with the Instant Pot, you still can't rush the process.

A salsa made with the best flavors of summer - bell pepper, tomatoes, cucumber, chilies, zucchini and corn - nicely seasoned and tossed with a quality creamy Italian dressing.

Summer Vegetable Salsa

Okay. Question.

Is this a salsa? You know, like meant to be eaten with chips? Or as a condiment for grilled or pan seared proteins?

Or, is it a dip, solely meant to be scooped up on a chip?

Or, is it a salad? Meant to be eaten on its own?

A one pan meal of smoked sausage, potatoes and sweet bell peppers, tossed with simple seasonings and olive oil and topped with pats of butter.

Smoked Sausage, Peppers and Potato Bake

The combination of flavors in this dish is one of my favorites, especially when I'm not much motivated to cook, because it's such an easy dish to throw together.

This version includes a hickory smoked Conecuh sausage, tender yellow potatoes and frozen mixed peppers with onions, seasoned, tossed with extra virgin olive oil, dotted with butter and baked. It's simple, easy, tasty and super flavorful.